EU promises flexibility for car CO2 standards

Spanish Market: Battery materials, Biofuels, E-fuels, Emissions, LPG
03/03/25

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen today promised "more flexibility" on CO2 targets, balancing "predictability and fairness" for firms that have already introduced low or zero emission vehicles.

Von der Leyen said the commission will stick to agreed CO2 emission reduction targets for fleets. But the commission will show "more pragmatism in these difficult times" and technology neutrality. She specifically promised a "focused" amendment to the bloc's CO2 standards regulation this month, to introduce "pragmatism" with respect to possible penalties for not complying with 2025 targets.

The EU's CO2 standards for manufacturers lay down an EU-wide fleet greenhouse gas target for light passenger vehicles and vans of 93.6g/km until 2029. That represents a 15pc reduction compared with a 2021 baseline for cars. This falls to 49.5g/km for 2030-34, a 55pc reduction, and 0g/km from 2035.

"Instead of annual compliance, companies will get three years," von der Leyen said, noting the principle of "banking and borrowing". "The targets stay the same; they have to fulfil the targets. It means more breathing space for industry and more clarity, and without changing the agreed targets," she said.

The amendment would need to be agreed quickly by the European parliament and a qualified majority of EU member states. The EU biofuels and hydrogen industry last week expressed disappointment at a draft outline of the commission's forthcoming automotive industrial action plan, for not mentioning low and carbon neutral biofuels and hydrogen.

By Dafydd ab Iago

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09/05/25

White House ends use of carbon cost

Washington, 9 May (Argus) — The US is ending its use of a metric for estimating the economic damages from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the latest reversal of climate change policies supported by President Donald Trump's predecessors. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week directed federal agencies to stop using the social cost of carbon as part of any regulatory or decision-making practices, except in cases where it is required by law, citing the need "remove any barriers put in place by previous administrations" that restrict the ability of the US to get the most benefit "from our abundant natural resources". "Under this guidance, the circumstances where agencies will need to engage in monetized greenhouse gas emission analysis will be few to none," OMB said in a 5 May memo to federal agencies. In cases where such an analysis is required by law, agencies should limit their work "to the minimum consideration required" and address only the domestic effects, unless required by law. OMB said these steps are needed to ensure sound regulatory decisions and avoid misleading the public because the uncertainties of such analyses "are too great". The budget office issued the guidance in response to an executive order Trump issued on his first day in office, which also disbanded an interagency working group on the social cost of carbon and called for faster permitting for domestic oil and gas production and the termination of various orders issued by former president Joe Biden related to combating climate change. The metric, first established by the administration of former US president Barack Obama, has been subject to a tug of war between Democrats and Republicans. Trump, in his first term, slashed the value of the social cost of carbon, a move Biden later reversed . Biden then directed agencies to fold the metric into their procurement processes and environmental reviews. The US began relying on the cost estimate in 2010, offering a way to estimate the full costs and benefits of climate-related regulations. The Biden administration estimated the global cost of emitting CO2 at $120-$340/metric tonne and included it in rules related to cars, trucks, residential appliances, ozone standards, methane emission rules, refineries and federal oil and gas leases. By Michael Ball Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 5.53pc in April

09/05/25

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 5.53pc in April

Sao Paulo, 9 May (Argus) — Brazil's annualized inflation rate rose to 5.53pc in April, accelerating for a third month despite six central bank rate hikes since September aimed at cooling the economy. The country's annualized inflation accelerated from 5.48pc in March and 5.06pc in February, according to government statistics agency IBGE. Food and beverages rose by an annual 7.81pc, up from 7.68pc in March. Ground coffee increased at an annual 80.2pc, accelerating from 77.78pc in the month prior. Still, soybean oil prices decelerated to 22.83pc in April from 24.36pc in March. Domestic power consumption costs rose to 0.71pc from 0.33pc a month earlier. Transportation costs decelerated to 5.49pc from 6.05pc in March. Gasoline prices slowed to a 8.86pc gain from 10.89pc a month earlier. The increase in ethanol and diesel prices decelerated as well to 13.9pc and 6.42pc in April from 20.08pc and 8.13pc in March, respectively. The hike in compressed natural gas prices (CNG) fell to 3.5pc from 3.92pc a month prior. Inflation posted the seventh consecutive monthly increase above the central bank's goal of 3pc, with tolerance of 1.5 percentage point above or below. Brazil's central bank increased its target interest rate for the sixth time in a row to 14.75pc on 7 May. The bank has been trying to counter soaring inflation as it has recently changed the way it tracks its goal. Monthly cooldown But Brazil's monthly inflation decelerated to 0.43pc in April from a 0.56pc gain in March. Food and beverages decelerated on a monthly basis to 0.82pc in April from a 1.17pc increase a month earlier, according to IBGE. Housing costs also decelerated to 0.24pc from 0.14pc in March. Transportation costs contracted by 0.38pc and posted the largest monthly contraction in April. Diesel prices posted the largest contraction at 1.27pc in April. Petrobras made three diesel price readjustments in April-May. By Maria Frazatto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Carbon credit method may limit Australia's ACCU supply

09/05/25

Carbon credit method may limit Australia's ACCU supply

Sydney, 9 May (Argus) — A potentially ineffective design of the long-delayed Integrated Farm and Land Management (IFLM) method developed by the Australian federal government might exclude thousands of landowners from the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) market, curbing potential supply, industry participants have warned. The IFLM method, the first in Australia to combine multiple activities that store carbon in soil and vegetation in a single method , could be potentially set with a "binary framework" classifying land types as either cleared or uncleared, following a recent update from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). But focusing on a single binary factor misses a broad range of other important influences, such as fire, over grazing, soil disturbance, feral animal impacts and climate events, co-chief executive of carbon project developer Climate Friendly, Skye Glenday, told Argus . It would particularly affect rangeland areas which cover around 70pc of Australia and include a large proportion of the Indigenous Estate, she added. The cleared/uncleared definition overlooks large areas of degraded land in Australia and is "not helpful" in understanding why the land is in that condition, carbon developer Australian Integrated Carbon (Ai Carbon) chief executive Adam Townley told delegates this week at lobby group Carbon Market Institute (CMI)'s Carbon Farming Industry Forum in New South Wales. A narrow definition of cleared and uncleared land effectively locks out large portions of the carbon market, decimating Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, Townley said. A CMI taskforce led by Glenday and Townley is recommending that the DCCEEW instead use the Vegetation Assets, States and Transitions (VAST) framework, which is already used by the Australian government to classify and report on the condition of native vegetation in its flagship State of Environment reports. This condition-based approach would allow developers to establish projects in large areas of existing native vegetation that are significantly degraded because of Australia's land-use history, but which still have forests and woodlands, according to the taskforce. The projects would then be able to restore health and increase carbon storage within these areas, the taskforce claims. Transition potential The right framework could incentivise between two-thirds and three-quarters of the registered land projects in eligible methods to transition to the future IFLM method, according to Glenday. Eligible methods would start with the key human-induced regeneration (HIR) ACCU method, which expired on 30 September 2023, as well as the Environmental Plantings (EP) and soil carbon methods. There are around 2,000 land-based projects registered, with about 400-500 in HIR, 50-100 in environmental plantings, and around 700 or more in soil. The number of projects that will transition will likely depend on the final transition rules and the package of activities each land manager wants to undertake, Glenday told Argus . Carbon developer Regenco will explore the potential of migrating all its HIR projects into the IFLM method, managing director and chief executive Greg Noonan told Argus on the sidelines of the CMI event. Transitioning to the new method would allow existing projects to have much larger land areas accountable for carbon sequestration, compared with around just 20pc on average under the HIR method, although decisions would depend on the additional ACCU generation potential for each project to compensate for migrating costs, Noonan said. Some developers said they will also consider transitioning their projects, but others expressed frustration and scepticism over the timeframe and final determination of the method, which was first proposed in 2019. There is a clear urgency in discussing new ACCU methods under consideration to address a current shortfall in availability of land-based methods that is restricting industry investment and engagement, CMI chief executive John Connor said. But delegates welcomed the policy certainty provided by the re-election of the Labor government , he added. "We're very hopeful that the IFLM method is legislated this year, and that's what we're working towards with all the stakeholders," Glenday said. But it would take at least up to nearly three years for the first IFLM projects to go from implementation to first ACCU issuances, she added. ACCU generic, generic (No AD) and HIR spot prices ended the week to 9 May at A$35 ($22.50), dropping slightly from a week earlier as the market failed to receive a boost from the Labor party's re-election. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Q&A: US' ACE Green bets on LFP batteries

09/05/25

Q&A: US' ACE Green bets on LFP batteries

Singapore, 9 May (Argus) — US-based battery recycler ACE Green Recycling has been focusing on the US market, particularly its upcoming Texas recycling site, and plans to run its lead-acid and lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery recycling operations alongside each other in Texas. Argus spoke with ACE Green Recycling's vice-president of investments and strategy, Aaron Wee, about their Texas site, battery recycling gate fees in Europe and the black mass market. The interview is split into two parts and part two's edited highlights follow: What's your view on the US market? The US market for lead is [one of] the most attractive market in the world. It's where you can find possibly some of the cheapest scrap batteries for lead, and also get some of the highest premiums on refined and alloyed lead. In terms of lithium, obviously the US is either the second- or the third-largest economy for [electric vehicles] and lithium batteries in general. Nowadays, with the improvements in LFP battery technology, the range and energy density problems of the past are now not really an issue. We sort of predicted the shift towards LFP quite some time ago. Back when the recyclers were concerned about nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) because we're going to get nickel, we're going to get cobalt. That was a relatively easy win for a lot of recyclers. But for us, LFP was always going to be the battery of the future. In fact, in our Texas project, we've already [begun the process of acquiring] the land and the facilities to combine both our battery recycling technology stacks and to co-locate them in a single location. But lead will start first because lead is going to make money tomorrow. LFP might take a little bit of time before feedstock actually comes in. What does ACE think of gate fees, especially in Europe? Does it distort the long-term consideration when setting up battery recycling operations? From a commercial point of view, I think depending on the battery type, that would be €500-800/t of batteries for gate fees in Europe. This may or may not hold over the next couple of years as more recycling capabilities are deployed in Europe. We won't say no to just getting money to recycle them. But our ultimate goal is not to rely on gate fees as a commercial strategy. Moving forward, I don't think any company can rely on gate fees as a strategy. It just won't be tenable. Eventually, somebody's going to be able to do it cheaper and better than you. And if you rely on gate fees, that's the end game right there. Gate fees are usually correlated with the price of lithium. [If] the price of lithium goes up, then recyclers won't [need to] rely on [gate fees]. Chances are we're going to be looking at maybe $12,000/t of lithium carbonate, [or] maybe $11,000 by the end of this year. What does ACE feel about the current pricing mechanism of black mass, battery scrap or even lithium? The correlation between lithium prices and black mass is very strong. But black mass as a commodity is a little bit trickier to export to China because of the regulations. Once they accept black mass [imports], especially LFP black mass, that will have a significant change. There will also perhaps be a fall in prices in the rest of the world because now they can sell to China, not just internally in their own domestic markets. Depending on how trade barriers may or may not come up over the next couple of months, we should see a shift in how black mass is priced. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

EU consults on tariffs for €95bn US imports

09/05/25

EU consults on tariffs for €95bn US imports

Brussels, 9 May (Argus) — The European Commission is consulting on an extensive list, worth €95bn ($107bn), of US industrial, agricultural and other imports that could be subject to tariff countermeasures. The long list includes extends from livestock, biofuels, wood pellets to metals, aircraft, tankers and polymers . The consultation runs until midday on 10 June. It is aimed at stakeholders affected by US measures and possible EU rebalancing measures. Also considered for possible countermeasures are restrictions, worth €4.4bn, on EU exports to the US of steel, iron and aluminium scrap, as well as toluidines, alcoholic solutions and enzymes (CN codes 7204, 7602, 292143, 330210 and 350790). The commission linked the possible new measures to US universal tariffs and to Washington's specific tariffs on cars and car parts. The commission said the public consultation is a necessary procedural step. It does not automatically result in countermeasures. The EU also launched a WTO dispute procedure against the US for Washington's universal tariffs, set at 20pc for EU goods and currently paused at 10pc, and at 25pc on all imports of vehicles and car parts. The commission will need approval by EU governments under a simplified legislative procedure. Officials say this will complete a legal act for the countermeasures, making them "ready to use" if talks with the US do not produce a "satisfactory" result. The list of products potentially targeted includes livestock, along with items ranging from spectacles to antiques. The 218-page list includes a range of agricultural and food products including oats, maize, and cereal pellets. Also included are biodiesel and wood pellets (CN codes 38260010, 44013100), as well as paper and cotton products. Aluminium, iron, steel are listed together with a wide range of other goods from gas turbines, ships propellers and blades, aircraft, sea-going tankers and other vessels. Polymers, copolymers, polyesters and other products are not spared (CN codes 39039090 and more). On 10 April, the EU paused its reciprocal tariffs against the US for 90 days, responding to a US pause. The EU notes that €379bn, or 70pc, of the bloc's exports to the US are currently subject to new or paused tariffs. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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